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Constantia Grierson
Constantia Grierson (?1705 - 2 December 1732) was an Irish poet, editor, and classical scholar. Life Grierson was born Constantia Crawley,D. Ben Rees, "Grierson , Constantia (1704/5–1732)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Web, Mar. 13, 2017. at Graigvenamanagh, co. Kilkenny. Her parents seem to have been in poor circumstances, but her father is said to have first encouraged her love of study.Gilbert, 220. In her 18th year she began to study obstetrics under Dr. Van Lewen, a Dublin physician of repute, the father of Laetitia Pilkington. She soon afterwards married George Grierson, an eminent Dublin printer, who obtained from Lord Carteret (then lord-lieutenant) a patent as king's printer in Ireland, chiefly, it is conjectured, owing to Carteret's admiration of Mrs. Grierson's attainments. Mrs. Pilkington, who knew Mrs. Grierson personally, writes that she was proficient in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French, understood mathematics well, and wrote elegantly in verse and prose. Grierson edited Latin classics published by her husband. Of these the principal were Terence, 1727, and Tacitus, 1730. The first was inscribed to Robert, son of Lord Carteret, viceroy of Ireland, and her edition of Tacitus was dedicated in elegant Latin to Carteret himself. Dr. Harwood, the classical bibliographer, pronounced Mrs. Grierson's Tacitus to be "one of the best edited books ever delivered to the world." Mrs. Grierson also wrote several English poems, some of which have been lost. 6 of her poems were included by Mary Barber in her volume of Poems on Several Occasions (London, 1734), and 7 were included in the 1755 anthology Poems by Eminent Ladies.Constantia Grierson, Ricorso. Web, Mar. 13, 2017. Mrs. Grierson was on close terms with Dean Swift, Thomas Sheridan, and Patrick Delany, D.D. Her learning and virtue were referred to in a poem by Henry Brooke (?1703-1783), author of Gustavus Vasa. She was engaged on an edition of Sallust at the time of her death in 1733. A copy of it with her annotations came into the possession of Lord George Germain, and at the sale of his books was purchased by John Wilkes, who valued it highly. Her son, George Abraham Grierson, described as "a gentleman of uncommon learning, great wit and vivacity," was a friend of Dr. Johnson. He died at Düsseldorf in 1755, aged 27. Several volumes of his manuscript collections, in various languages, relating to European history are in the possession of representatives of his family. Publications Poetry *''Poems by Mrs. Grierson''. London: Richard Baldwin, 1755. *''The Poetry of Laetitia Pilkington (1712-1750) and Constantia Grierson (1706-1733)'' (edited by Bernard Tucker). Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1996. Edited *Virgil, P.V.M. opera. Nunc emendatiora. Dublin: G. Grierson, 1724. Anthologized *Mary Barber, Poems on Several Occasions. London: C. Rivington, 1734. *''Poems by Eminent Ladies''. London: R. Baldwin, 1755. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Constantia Grierson, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 13, 2017. See also *List of Irish poets References * . Wikisource, Web, Mar. 13, 2017. Notes External links *Constantia Grierson at the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (6 poems) *Constantia Grierson at Poetry Nook (9 poems) ;About *Constantia Grierson in the Compendium of Irish Biography *Constantia Grierson at Elliptical Moments * Grierson, Constantia Category:18th-century women writers Category:18th-century Irish writers Category:1700s births Category:1732 deaths Category:People from County Kilkenny Category:Irish women poets Category:18th-century poets Category:Irish poets Category:Irish women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:Poets who died before 30